LISTEN BACK: “Auri I”
Through the looking glass…
Heads up, this article talks about things like suicide and death, so please read it only when you’re able to. If you need someone to talk to, I am always here for you. I’m cheering you on in life and I want you to do amazing things. Be safe, my little sunbeams. <3
— Kathy Criswell
Hello, my wonderful friends. Welcome to my album journey through the debut Auri album. I had this entirely written last year but was too shy to share it, so I opened the document and realized that I had learned a ton of information in the last year or so… so I rewrote all of it. This album is mysterious and filled to the brim with metaphors and references that I know I’ll probably miss. It still lures me in each time like a siren’s song. I made some art pieces inspired by it last summer, but even then I didn’t dig as deeply into it as I did doing this. These silly journeys are so fun for me, so hopefully someone releases music soon so that I may do it again!
And while Auri themselves are coy about who writes and does what, I do have a big fear of being wrong about things. So, let’s conquer that fear and do our best, okay? We’re all friends here, right?
For the small handful of you who are going to read this, you’re probably very aware of Auri and my adoration for them. Do I wake up every morning and look for a tour announcement the same way I did for Altamullan Road? Of course. Do I wish on every star I see that I will attend the first show? Also yes. Though, there are plenty of stars in the sky, so I’m not hurting on that front. I know it will happen, but the “when” is what is making my heart pound. You bet I’ll do anything and everything to see them live, especially if I can embark on a journey to Finland like I did earlier this year. There’s something so special about being at someone’s first live show… I can’t quite explain it.
I did an album journey for “Auri II” last year and I was met with amazing feedback. I’m less nervous about the second album, though I don’t know why. My brain is like that scene in Dreamcatcher with the moving boxes and rows of folders, so who knows why I do anything? “Auri II” is much more relaxed and playful, which makes me more comfortable talking about it.
The debut Auri album, in my humble opinion, is the antithesis of the business side of the music industry. It’s three besties pouring their hearts and skills out and having amazing results. I can understand why they liken it to a playground of art. There was no one to answer to, no one to appease other than themselves. And I’ve only met ⅓ of Auri (I saw the other two briefly at an Altamullan Road show in Helsinki, but I’m shy and kind of adamant about giving people space to breathe). Still, I would like to think that I know enough to feel their joy and enthusiasm in creating the music, which is why Auri should be the standard for music. A new bar to be set. Freedom to create and to explore creativity without fear of reproach or failure. When something comes from the heart, failure isn’t possible.
They did a lot of press for the debut album and I ate it up greedily. I love watching them talk about Auri. You can see Tuomas Holopainen’s sheer all-encompassing enthusiasm and joy. Troy Donockley is always filled with anecdotes and the most confounding of metaphors. And Johanna Kurkela? Well, she’s always sweetly smiling anyway and watching her bandmates talk with such palpable pride, that I find myself grinning as well. Hearing them all talk about the freedom and creative process that is involved with this album makes my soul feel lighter, truly.
I know I’ve said it before, but listening to music done by nerds is like an extra layer of joy. Who uses “everscriven” in a song? Skyrim nerds, that’s who. Also, the logo? Straight up inspired by The Elder Scrolls as well. I mean, look at the Oblivion logo! Anyway, if I start talking about Skyrim here, we’ll be here forever. I sometimes wonder if Troy just smiles and nods when my favorite pair of nerds start talking about Tamriel, Tarbean, and The Valley. All of those things bring me insurmountable joy, so that’s probably why I fell down the Auri rabbit hole pretty easily.
The album design is completely black and white, which is a stark contrast to the music. I have this theory that Johanna’s three bands encompass the entire atmosphere of music:
Altamullan Road is underneath the earth, raw and vulnerable.
Eye of Melian is celestial music that takes us to the clouds and parades us around whatever hopes and dreams lie above.
Auri is fantastical, it’s a walk in the forest. It’s divinity in the simple things, it's a wonderful daydream. It’s an adventure, it’s wonder and innocence!
See what I mean? She’s got the monopoly on the entire atmosphere of music. The aesthetic is pristine. There’s a particular image of the three of them, with their hair blowing in the wind. The art part of my brain is obsessed with the movement in the fabric (and Johanna’s dress because I love black dresses!) I feel like that’s the image that I associate with the album, even if there are dozens of other promo images.
Auri starts with “The Space Between,” which immediately makes me think of Outlander's season one promo poster, reaching out a hand to invite someone to join you in some shenanigans. It's extremely catchy and when I first heard it, I realized that I didn’t recall ever hearing Johanna sing an entire album in English, which I was impressed with. I know that it seems silly, but singing in other languages is hard. I remember reading an interview once where she said singing in Finnish is harder though, because of all the sounds you have to use and how it doesn’t flow the same with pronunciation. I have no musical inclinations other than being a fangirl, so none of it makes much sense to me regardless, hah! I think it's all magic, no matter who is making it or what language it is in.
“The Space Between,” all-in-all, makes me feel as if I’m being invited to see society from outside reality. It’s a nice invitation to watch my favorite film of all time: humanity. People-watching is one of my favorite hobbies, alongside being a very passionate fan of things!
Next up is “I Hope Your World Is Kind” and wow, this is a good example of what learning the source material can do. When I first heard this song, it was 2019, but when I found it again in 2021 I was utterly obsessed with Resident Evil Village and, because one of the characters says “manthings” in the game, I immediately associated these two things together. However, that is no longer true. As most fans of Auri or Nightwish have done, I picked up the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss and began to read it. I like knowing what inspires my favs and if it had impacted Tuomas and Johanna so very much, I wanted in on it too!
So, while I don’t have the same emotional connection that they do (which is the same for all things in life!), I do see a lot of lyrical Easter eggs and references. I also have a whole theory about Auri (the character from The Kingkiller Chronicle) and Skyrim, which I rant about in a podcast I did with my friend Bear. Also, the title is a direct reference to the character of Auri, which is hidden quite nicely. Even if you aren’t familiar, I’m sure you understand the well-wishing sentiment.
The song also takes inspiration from Bach! Which I had to admittedly ask my very smart friends about because I know nothing about classical music other than I knew it was from something.
If you’re familiar with the character of Auri, she’s a bit like a skittish cat who sees the world in such a beautiful, youthful, but not naïve way. She’s silly, but smart. She’s shy, but not a pushover. All-in-all, she just loves the rooftops and listening to Kvothe play his lute. Which, I can understand, being a fan of music in the way that I am. There is something intrinsically soothing about watching someone close their eyes and just let it all out in the most earnest and beautiful ways. I’ve never listened to music on a rooftop but now I’m begging Auri to play a rooftop show at some point!
There are references to the series like “Foxen,” the library burning down, and Auri being mentioned generally. Although, she is not the sole reason for the name of the band, as they have extensively stated. It’s also not a concept album. It’s just a love letter to escapism and nerd-dom. Being a fan of people who are also passionate fans of things is such a special and wonderful experience. I can only imagine how strange it is to be a fan of someone and have them be a fan right back! That’s something fun to think about!
“Skeleton Tree” is next, which is super unique-sounding. I’m banned from playing this at my house because the intro gets stuck in my wife’s head so aggressively that she will hum it for days—not my fault that it’s catchy! To me, this song feels as if it’s being played from within the tree. That’s something to imagine, isn’t it? Imagine being something bright and youthful singing this song and slowly dying as the song progresses. Kinda dark, kinda neat. I’m currently watching the Amazon Prime show, Yellowjackets, and it fits pretty well, so I’m sure my brain will conjure something out of that.
Something I love about Auri is that they’re self-sufficient, which isn’t to say that they refuse help at all. But, there aren’t many things the three members cannot musically accomplish. I wonder how that translates into live shows? I imagine Troy as that caricature of a man wearing thirty instruments and playing them all at once. Now, I’m not proficient in Latin in the slightest, but my best guess is that “Canto / Osseus / Arbor / Cantor” is something akin to “I sing of the Skeleton Tree,” which is pretty cool. A skeleton tree is a way of describing something that was once vibrant and full of life, which is now… not. I personally think of when the autumn chill starts to roll in and the leaves turn gray, which makes everything look like nature’s graveyard. But it could be used to describe a lot of things. I don’t know much about specific instruments, but every single time I listen to this, I hear something different. A lot is going on and like most songs on this album, I know that I’ll never discover them all.
Also, Troy, if you’re reading this, please put a theremin in “Auri III.” Just sayin’.
Next up is the beautifully simple “Desert Flower,” and simple is the opposite of an insult here. You see, it carries itself just fine without anything extravagant. Also, Troy sings! I love his voice, it reminds me of when my father would gather my sisters and me in the basement for an impromptu acoustic show. The “All I wanted was…” over and over reads like someone lamenting over a tragedy or something extremely emotional. Speaking in past tense like that is a surefire way for me to get super in my feelings.
“Softly pull the fences down” is beautiful! Whether the fence in your scenario is literal or emotional, pulling it back to escape is powerful imagery. I recently dealt with some personal tragedy involving my estranged best friend who wanted nothing more than to not be on this Earth for many years. When they finally succeeded, I felt so devastated, but also at peace with their decisions. I feel things so deeply that my emotions wrap themselves around my heart and mind, so songs like this help me realize that I can only control myself and my actions. I can’t make everything better for people who are hurting, but I can do my best to not make it worse.
Grief is a fickle creature and it hits at the strangest times. So, to re-listen to this while silently thinking of my friend… well it gives me a sense of inner peace about it all, I suppose. I also have been in that scenario where there seemed to be no way out but to give up and be surrounded by the idea that I wasn’t needed alive anymore. And all I did want was to go. But, I’m so very glad I didn’t and I’m glad that if you have felt that way, you didn’t either. You are important to this world and only you carry your sparkle and shine. Your voice matters and is so very unique to you.
I have a bit more to say but the words aren’t quite here yet and I’ve spent too long being sad about it. Perhaps I’ll unpack it a bit more in another separate piece. Just know that songs that help me process emotions are extra special to me.
“Night 13” is super cool! It has a wonderful cinematic music video that is brilliant. I think I remember reading somewhere that this was based on a short story Tuomas was writing. I know he has a few stories in his pocket and I would love to read them, even if they’re in Finnish. I can try my best and do the work to translate! I hope he can achieve that goal sometime soon. We should all be able to explore our creative outlets whenever we can.
There is a confusing sense of time in this song. While most are linear in their storytelling, this one seems to go backward, which makes sense if you see the video. I can’t tell if it’s written in retrospect about a life lived via someone dying or if that’s way off the mark. All I know is that this song is really good and examines the vast expanse of someone’s life in a short amount of time. Or maybe it’s written backward on purpose. Who knows?
In my head, it’s someone watching a movie of their life, the night before they die. Bidding “goodbye” to everything is really sad but also satisfying. How many of us get to say that in life? Living long enough to even be able to look back is a gift. I know there are some cultures where the elders go off on solo trips when they’re ready to depart from life, and they live in solitude until they peacefully die. I don’t mean for this article to be so much about death, but if there’s one thing Auri is good at, it’s examining deep emotions and experiences.
“See” is a weird one and I say that with love! The actual song itself sounds like something that would play in one of those long journey montages in a video game cutscene. I feel as if this is one of those songs that I’ll never quite understand, but I’m not upset by that. It’s cryptic and a mystery, which keeps me coming back to it. It’s got a series of what I interpret as gentle commands. It starts with an action (see, hear, feel, speak, and breathe…) and then follows up with some additional details. I also really like the line “but love’s a wine dark sea”—it evokes all five of the senses, depending on how you feel it.
“The Name Of The Wind,” if I remember correctly, was a challenge Tuomas set for himself to complete something in a short amount of time. I also think the version that made it onto the album was the second take. It references the title and plot of the first installment of the Rothfuss novels. When I close my eyes, I can picture two scenes: one is Kvothe bringing a candle into the library and when the music shifts about a minute in, is when he is caught and subsequently banned from the library. The second scene is me imagining seeing this live in the future, as all of the audience just closes their eyes and sings along quietly with tears streaming down their cheeks. As someone who is a text-oriented person, having these songs that are so complicated yet simple really makes me think about things and appreciate parts of music that I’m not used to. I wish I was a fly on the wall for literally any of their music-making processes. But that would ruin the magic of Auri so I’ll begrudgingly accept that we will just never know!
Oh, sweet little “Aphrodite Rising,” what a joy you are. To think that this was the first Auri song makes me so happy. It feels like a waterfall over my heart. So much joy and playfulness—something we need more of in music. In my opinion, Johanna is singing as if she is the Greek goddess Aphrodite herself, which isn’t too far off actually. I mean I could see the resemblance…
I mean, if the Goddess of Love is out to get me… that’s not a bad thing, right? Also, I have a tender place in my heart for this song because I’m writing a novel that was partially inspired by this song. To think of this song as the first little seed in the Auri garden, makes me smile. “Lights out” is a nice little lyric. Perhaps if they play this live… the lights will go out. Now that I think about it, that would be really cool for “Savant” too. I’ve never had the experience of visualizing how a live show could look before, and it’s really something quite fun to do. Especially after seeing the amazing lighting at the Altamullan Road shows, I am quite excited about the possibilities.
One thing I realized after a year in between writing this and re-writing it, is how my favorite songs on the album evolved. “Savant” is really, really interesting. I adore the beginning of it. Johanna is just singing low and slowly—something we didn’t get to hear a lot from her, given the time this album came out. As a solo artist, I feel as if she was generally known for sparkles and twinkles, but songs like “Savant” really bring out the melancholy and almost…gleeful but sinister quality of her voice. I have a hard time describing it. But the whole song is beautiful… and kind of off-putting. The poem that is recited is also pretty apt for the mood. It’s about strangers and fleeing the world and it’s kind of creepy. I love it! Songs like this balance out the ones earlier in the album, which are more jaunty and lighthearted. Also, on a personal note, I had no idea what the poem meant in 2019 but now that I’ve stumbled through a year or so of learning Finnish… it was much easier to understand!
“Underthing Solstice” might be my favorite song on the album, and it's definitely one of my favorite songs of all time. At least in my top fifty. It reads quite similar to The Slow Regard of Silent Things, which is a wonderful piece of literature. With thoughts going a mile a minute and a penchant for befriending everything in her path, Auri is a character that I cannot separate from this album. Tuomas did an interview with Peter Orullian that is wonderfully interesting: Peter stated that when Auri spoke in the books, he heard Johanna’s voice as Auri’s. I think my reaction is similar, but not quite the same. When I hear this song, I hear Auri singing it, but being voiced by Johanna. I see the small, erratic motions and the furtive nervous glances happening in a performance. I hear the gulp of emotion before admitting that she doesn’t “do remembering” and I relate… because I don’t do much remembering either, sweet Auri. I only just let myself remember anything at all.
“It will keep you safe at night” is a reference to something Auri says to Kvothe. Her lines and ways of speaking are disjointed and quickly changing, which is how I think. So, I personally understand her quite easily. No one asked but, I think my favorite scene in all of the series is when Auri says: “You have a stone in your heart, and some days it’s so heavy there is nothing to be done. But you don’t have to be alone for it. You should have come to me. I understand.” I don’t want to explain why I relate to Kvothe’s pain at that moment, but to have someone wrap their arms around you and tell you that you’re safe… that’s really what Auri have done with this album, isn’t it? Wrapped us all in a safe blanket and given us the safety to say our feelings aloud.
On a vastly different note, “Them Thar Chanterelles” is so fun! Oh, it’s such a left turn from “Underthing Solstice” that I’m almost in shock for a few seconds when it comes on. This song came from a jaunt in the mushrooms, which is so very Auri, that the only thing that could have made it even more on brand is if they were walking and talking to cats in the process! I have a very visual and colorful mind, so when I hear this I imagine something like a mishmash of the Tim Burton live action Alice in Wonderland and the animated Disney one. Like, it fades from animated to live action, back and forth, kind of like the older movie, The Pagemaster, from the ‘90s.
I picture lots of quickly-moving colors and things that don’t look quite right. The innocence of it all just makes me feel so light and airy, I want to dance around to it. Well, I do dance with my cats to this a lot. If they play this live, I can guarantee that the whole place will be dancing and smiling with pure joy. And in times such as these, with heartbreak and malice in every headline and news segment, we truly need that more than ever. This is why I am so protective over this music, and I’m not even involved in it.
If I want you to take anything from this article, it’s that you’re allowed to feel your emotions and sing them out. Let people who use words in such a very invigorating way, give you the strength to look into the little rooms in your heart. Learn the names of your emotions to gain the power to control them, get wine drunk and dance in the mushrooms, let yourself fall victim to your inner whimsy and wonder, and sit on the rooftops to enjoy the silence occasionally. Just be kind to yourself and to others.
If you enjoy Kathy’s writing, consider funding her novel, the aptly-named “Aphrodite Rising,” which is due out this year! I can attest that it’s a good one!
— Bear Wiseman
